CATACOMBS BOARD GAME

Catacombs is an award winning action/dexterity based adventure

 board game. One player controls the Overseer, controlling the

 monsters of the catacombs. The other player(s) control the four

 heroes who cooperatively try to defeat the monsters and

eventually the Catacomb Lord. Each of the heroes have

 special abilities that must also be used effectively if they

are to prevail.

In the unique game, Catacombs, the heroes have to fight their

 way through a dungeon. There’s nothing new about that theme,

 but rather than rolling dice or playing cards to resolve damage,

players take their player disc and hurdle it across the board to

make it collide into what they’re trying to kill. I’m excited to go

cover this game today; dexterity games are a game genre that

I think everyone should try once. Let’s look, however, at if

Catacombs is a game worth buying.

Catacombs is a game ultimately designed to play with five

 players: one player as the Overlord, controlling all the

 monsters while all the other players each get a hero

character with a special power depending on who he is; the

 wizard gets to cast spells; the thief gets a sneaky extra

move; the barbarian gets to rage, and the elf gets to shoot

 arrows. We played a copy of the game that the game

store here in town has open for people to try.

The heroes face a series of rooms of escalating difficulty. Each

 room card that the Overseer turns over details the monsters

 that he gets to use. Both sides set up and then begin flicking

 their pieces at one another to do damage to them.

But luckily this game isn’t just a game of "smash discs into one

 another" since every hero and every monster has its own feel.

Skeletons die after getting hit only once. Spider attacks can

incapacitate a hero for a turn. Trolls need to take two damage

in the same round or they will regenerate to full health. Centaurs

 get to move and then shoot an arrow. Missile weapons, by the

 way, are done by placing a small wooden disc next to your piece

 and flicking it toward your target. They’re difficult to hit with, but

 they keep your character farther away from danger.

Each room also has a different arrangement of immobile discs

in the room that make for a different arrangement of pieces each

 time, which helps add variety to the encounters.

The game isn’t a serious game. It’s silly. You’re going to make

 mistakes and accidentally not flick your guy even a third of

the distance that you meant to. You’re going to have people pull

 off lucky shots where somehow they manage to maneuver an

 arrow between a narrow opening right toward the guy who is at

 his last hitpoint. Pieces are going to fly off the board more

 than once. I think it's pretty safe to say that you'll laugh a few

 times while playing.

Catacombs is a game unlike any other game I’ve seen out there,

 so it’s hard to gauge how much you might like it based on

other things that you like. The game is a pastime a much as it is

 a board game. In my opinion it's a pretty good pastime, but,

as seen from our varied reactions to the game, this is definitely

 a game that you’re going to want to try before you buy.